Landing of airships



April 21, 1 3 o. KRELL I 1,802,025

LANDING OF AIR SHi PS Filed Feb. 14, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet l April 21, 1931; o. KRELL LANDING OF AIRSHIPS Filed Feb. 14, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 21, 1931. KRELL LANDING OF AIRSHIPS Filed Feb. 14, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I r'IIlI II 'I I'IIIIIIIIIIIIII In I a April 21, 1931. o. KRELL\ LANDING OF AIRSHIPS Filed Feb. 14, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Apr. 21, 1931 V v rarss PArENToFIcEf OTTO KRELL, 01E BERLIN-DAHLEM, GERMANY LANDING OF AIR-SHIPS Application filed February is, 1929, rerial No. 339,859, and in Germany March 6, 1928.

The invention relates to the landing of air- One object of the invention is therefore to ships or dirigibles of considerable size. In enclose the tower or mast in anenvelope of landing airships it is customary to tie the stream line shape or configuration or to conairship to the mooring tower and to await struct the tower of sheet steel in such a man- 5 favorable wind and weather before hauling ner, that the cross-section of the tower fol- 55 down and running it into the stationary lows stream lines. In thisway the disturbing hangar, which is at such a distance from the air whirls are effectively avoided, the moortower that the towerand hangar do not interis facilitated and the air pressure upon fere with one another. 0 transfer the airthe tower reduced to a minimum. 10 ship into this hangar, it is necessary to detach The stream line shape or" the shell of the 60 its mooring ear from the tower and to haul nast demands a sharp edge at the lee side. the airship into the hangar by the help of a Since, however, the crab with the nose of the considerable number of men. Apart from dirigible attached to it sweeps along almost the fact that this can be carried in favorthe entire length of the tower, the provision able weather only and a delay of many days of such a sharp edge would be impossible. A 65 mightoccur for this reason, so that a lot of further object of the invention is therefore time is wasted, it is necessary to employ a to construct the shell at the leeside of the great number of men, who are used for this tower in such a manner. that it maybe swung purpose only and, last but not least, the alropen like a swing door or to provide it with ship is alwaysexposed to serious risks during sliding doors adapted to he slid back along 70 such transfers. the stationary portion of the tower in the All these drawbacks are ellectively elimdirection against the wind. The part of the inated by mounting the mooring tower at one shell rendered movable in this way may be end of a rotatable hangar over the admission subdivided into a number of sections. The door. The leeside of such a tower is proindividual doors, each section consists of vided with a runway upon which a crab is two, are by springs maintained in the posiadapted to run up and down to which is tion corresponding with the stream line moored the nose of he airship. To transfer shape. When the crab is vertically reciprothe airship into the hangar the crab with the cated along the mast, it opens at least the 3 nose of the airship attached thereto is run doors of two adjacent sections by means'oi" 80 down the tower upto the centre of the admissuitably, shaped guide rails mounted upon s" in opening or a vertical travelling crane the crab and running along rollers attached Forming a downward extension of the moorto the wings of the door. The wings must ing tower. The airship maythen be run into open so far, that the nose of the dirigible the hangar without the necessity of detaching moored to the crab does not touch them. 85 it frointhe crab. The mooring mast over the As soon as the nose of the airship has entrance of the hangar must have a suilicient passed the wings of the door close again under height and be able to withstand the pull the action of the springs and the wind,so which large airships exert upon it in a strong that the stream line shape is resumed again 40 wind. Since, on the other hand the weight by the tower. r V

of the tower should be as low as possible, it It will be readily understood, that it i301 is preferablyconstructed of lattice or trellis course not necessary to subdivide the shell of work with shitable braces. the tower or mast at its leeside into sections,

This construction offers, however, a conbut that the entire shell or envelope of the siderableresistance to the wind flowing along leeside may, if circumstances make it appear 95 the hangar. In this way the tower sets up more favorable, be swung open at once or considerable strains at the points of attachpushed back along the stationary portion of ment on the hangar and air whirls are caused, the shell prior to starting the crab on its way. which might have a detrimental action upon The closing of the leeside portion of the shell the airship entering the hangar; does inthis case not take place automatically, 10o

but is effected by the attendants after the crab with the dirigible has passed.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for attaching the nose of the dirigible to the crab travelling up and down the tower. The improved means satisfy all demands, which can be made upon them, because the dirigible can be easily attached to and detached from the crab, it can swing freely towards all sides and roll around its longitudinal axis, and the holding means can yet withstand with certainty the highest strains, which can possibly be developed. An easily detachable and yet powerful holding device is provided a breech or block which is used to close the bore of a gun. In this mechanism the steel block or bolt carries an interrupted screw subdivided-along the circumference into, say 4, 6 or 8 sections and a similar nut with internal interrupted thread cooperates with this bolt. The holding device according to my invention consists of such a boltprovided with interrupted screw, thread attached to the dirigible and a nut fitting said bolt, mounted on the crab, so that the bolt maybe introduced into the nut when the threaded sections of the bolt coincide with the threadless recesses of the nut.

If after the introduction of the bolt the nut is turned by the breadth of a threaded section, say through an angle oi 90, 60 or 45, the thread on both parts is thrown into ongagement and participates in bearing the load. By providing a suitable number of threads, it is possible to provide the necessary shearing sections to deal with any load. Such a lock satisfies all requirements in regard to strength as well as simplicity and rapidity in operation. In order to givethe dirigible the necessaryliberty of motion this screw breech lock is suspended in the centre of a Cardan joint. It is necessary that he axis of the screw should be rotatably supported in the inner (.ardan ring, in order to permit that the screw nnrv be rotated independently of the Cardan joint. In order to enable the screw bolt provided with the interrupted screw thread to find the nut rasily and correctly a guide tunnel is disposed in front of the nut. This funnel is provided with guide slot-s. At the nose of the dirigible are mounted guide blades, which engage the slots in the funnel and turn the funnel and together with it the nut to such an extent that the threaded sections of: the bolt face the recesses free from thread in the nut. As soon as the bolt has been completely introduced into the nut. the nut is rotated by means of a wormgear by hand, or by machinery through the width of a section, i. 69., through a fraction of the circumference. The dirigible is then secured to the mooring tower.

0 transfer the dirigible from the tower into the:hangar, 1t is necessary to make provisions to haul the dlrigible down the tower. For

soaozs this reason the nose attaching mechanism just described is mounted upon a crab. This crab is adapted to travel along guides mounted upon the tower, as soon as the mooring cable has been removed from the nose of the dirigible. T he crab is preferably driven by electric motors supplied with current from a storage battery mounted upon the crab. In this way it is possible to manage without drag cables with their tendency of sparking.

An embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, by way of example.

In the drawings are Fig. 1., a cross-section through a stream line tower or must with travelling crab and the movable door leaves. The position of the leaves of the door during the passage of the crab together with the head of the dirigible is indicated in broken lines.

Fig. 2, a cross-section through the open door leaves and the plan of the crab with the guide rails and guide rollers on a larger scale,

Fig. 3, the elevation of the parts Fig. 2,

Fig. 4., a sectional side-elevation of the nose mooring mechanism,

Fig. 5, a part of the front elevation, and

Fig. 6, a sectional plan of the nose mooring mechanism.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawings, it will be seen that the shell oi the tower or mast consists of a rigid part 1 on the weather side and of movable parts 2 and 2 onthe lecside oi the mast. The movable parts are adapted to be brought into the position indicated in dotted lines. They are subdivided into individual sections along the axis of the tower. The wings or leaves 8 and 8 of the doors. see in particular Fig. 2, are rotatable around the hinges 6 and 6', and are maintained in the closed or folded position conforming to stream lines, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, by springs 9 and 9, Fig. 3. lVhen the dirigible is hauled towards the tower. the crab 3 is situated at the highest point of the tower. \Vhen it is desired to run the dirigible into the hangar, it is necessary to malre the crab 3 descend along the tower or mast.

The crab 3 then opens the leaves 8 and S by means of the guide rails 4 and 4 mounted upon it against the resistance of the springs shown in '9 and 9 to such an. extent, that the point or nose S of the dirigible can'be carried along the tower without touching the edges of the wings. To reduce the friction between the guide rails and the leaves or wings of the door rollers 7 and 7 are provided upon the leaves of the door and run alon said rails. When the crab 3 has passed, the springs 9 and 9 automatically close the doors again so that the streamline contour of the tower is interrupted for short periods and a short distance of the balls 18'.

only in comparison to the entire length of the tower.

Instead of the enclosure of the trellis construction of the mooring tower the part 1 of the tower mayconsist of a sheet metal construction the cross-section of which adapts itself as closely as possible to stream lines.

The cable 10 (Fig. 4) is fixed in the nose of the dirigible S inany suitable manner. The lock illustrated consists of the parts 11, 11 and 12. On the cable 10 there is further mounted a clamping member 13 provided with a slender and an obtuse taper 13- and 13'. By the obtuse taper 13 the clamping member 13 centers itself in the threaded hollow bolt 5 mounted in the nose of the dirigible S. The slender taper 13 facilitates the iii-- troduction of the screw bolt 5 into the guiding funnel 14 of thenut 15. In order. to

enable the screw bolt 5 to be so guided againstthe nut 15 that its sections provided with thread 5', F ig.5, coincide exactly with the bare sections 15 ofthe nut15, guide slots 14 and 14", Figs. 4 and 6, are provided in the guide funnel 14 and cooperate with guide blades 16 mounted upon the nose of the dirigible S and the screw bolt 5, whereby the funnel is turned in its bearing 18 into the correct position and with it the nut 15.

When the screw bolt 5 by the aid of the tunnel 14 has entered with its threaded. portions 5 the bare portions or sections 15 of the nut 15, Fig. 5, the nut '15 is turned by means of the wormgear 17 and 17 Toen able this to be carried out the wormwheel 17 is connected with the nut 15 and the WOIIHV 17 with the funnel 14, Figs. 4 and 5. The nut 15 is supported within the funnel 14 by means upon the balls 18 within theinner Cardan ring 19. Through this andthe Cardan joint consisting of the Cardan rings 19. and 19,

the nut 15, the funnel 14 and thus the nose of the dirigible S are freely movable in all di-' rections except axially in the frame of the. travelling crab 3. The springs 20 and 21 are intended to maintain the funnelin the horizontal position as long as it is inoperative, 1. e., does not hold a diriglble. The travelling crab 3, Figs. 5 and 6 runs with its Wheels 24,

and 25 in the U-irons 26 and 26, which run along the mooring tower from the point to the ground or to the vertical transverse mem ber forming the continuation of the tower across the hangar and designed as travelling crane to haul the dirigible into the hangar.

Upon the U-irons '26 and 26 are mounted the racks 21 and 21 with which engage the pinions 22 and 22 of the crab 3. The pinions 22 and 22 are driven by electricv motors E Various changes and modifications may be Thefunnel is able to turn the aperture of said hanger, a streamline shell consisting of sections of sheet iron enclosing said mast, a travelling crab adapted to move along said mooring mast in a vertical direction, means upon said crab for opening the sections of said shell to allow the passage of said crab, and to close said sections again after the passage of said crab, and an easily detachable mooring device for the dirigible capable of withstanding high tensional stresses and adapted to permit free motion of the dirigible tcwards all sides mounted on said crab.

2. in a mooring device for dirigibles, in combination, a rotatable hanger, a mooring mast of lattice construction mounted above the aperture of said hangar, a stream line shell consisting of sections of sheet iron enclosing said mast, a travelling crab adapted to move along said mooring mast in a vertical direction, guide rails upon said crab foropening the movable portions of the shell sections, springs tending to keep said sections closed and adapted to close them after said crab haspassed, and an easily detachable mooring device for the dirigible capable of withstanding high tensional' stresses and adapted to permit free motion of the dirigible towards all sides mounted on said crab.

3, In a. mooring device for dirigibles, in combination, a rotatable hangar, a mooring mast oflattice construction mounted above the aperture of said hangar, a stream line shell enclosing said mast and consisting of sections comprising a stationary and a portion movable, a travelling crab adapted to move along said mooring mast in a vertical direction, means upon said crab for moving saidanovable portions of said shell along the stationary ones to allow the passage of said crab uneans for returning said movable portions, into the closing position after said crab has passed, and an easily detachable mooring device for the dirigible capable of withstanding high tensional stresses and adapted to permit free motion of the dirigible towards all sides mounted on said crab.

4. In a mooring device for dirigibles, in combination, a rotatable hangar, a mooring mast of lattice construction mounted above the aperture of said hanger, a stream line shell enclosing said mast, a travelling crab adapted to move along said-mooring mast in a vertical direction, and an easily detachable inooringdevice iorthe 'dirigible capable of withstanding high tensional stresses and adapted to permit free motion of the dirigibletowards all sides mounted on said crab, and means for mechanically opening said shell along its entire length to allow said travelling crab with the attached dirigible to pass and closing it after said crab has left said mast.

5. In a mooring device for dirigibles, in combination, a rotatable hangar, a mooring mast of lattice construction mounted above the aperture of said hangar, a stream line shell enclosing said mast, a travelling crab adapted to move along said mooring mast in a vertical direction, and a screw breech lock for mooring the nose of the dirigible within the frame of said crab, said locking compris' ing a bolt mounted on the nose of the dirigible and provided with interrupted screw thread and a nut mounted on said crab likewise with interru )ted screw thread, the threaded sections 0 said nut corresponding with the bare sections of said bolt.

6. In a mooring device for dirigibles, in combination, a rotatable hangar, a mooring mast of lattice construction mounted above the aperture of said hangar, a stream line shell enclosing said mast, a travelling crab adapted to move along said mooring mast in a vertical direction, and a screw breech lock for mooring the nose of the dirigible within the frame of said crab, said lock comprising a bolt mounted on the nose of the dirigible and provided with interrupted screw thread and a nut mounted on said crab likewise with interru ted screw thread, and threaded sections 0 said nut corresponding with the bare sections of said bolt, and a worm gear for rotating said nut.

7. In a mooring device for dirigibles, in combination, a rotatable hangar, a mo'oring mast of lattice construction mounted above the aperture of said hangar, a stream line shell enclosing-said mast, a travelling crab adapted to move along said mooring mast in a vertical direction, and a screw breech lock for mooring the nose of the dirigible within the frame of said crab, said lock comprising a bolt mounted on the nose of the dirigible and provided with interrupted screw thread and a nut mounted on said crab likewise with interrupted screw thread, the threaded sections of said nutcorrespondingwith the bare sections of said bolt. a worm gear for rotating said nut, a guide funnel with two diametrically opposite guide slots located in front of said nut, and guide blades mounted on the nose of the dirigible adapted to engage said slots.

8. In a mooring device for dirigihles, in combination, a rotatable hangar, a mooring mast of lattice construction, mounted above the aperture of said hanger, a stream line shell enclosing said mast, a travelling crab adapted to move along said mooring mast in a vertical direction, and a screw breech lock for mooring the nose of the dirigible within the frame ofsaid crab, said lock comprising a bolt mounted on the nose of the dirigible and provided with interrupted screwthread and anut mounted in a Cai'danjoint on said crab likewise with interrupted screw thread, the threaded sections of said nut corresponding with the bare sections of said bolt, a worm gear for rotating said nut, a guide funnel with two diametrically opposite guide slots located in front of said nut, and guide blades mounted-on the nose of the dirigible adapted to engage said slots.

9. In a mooring device for dii'igibles, in combination, a rotatable hangar, a mooring mast of lattice construction mounted above the aperture of said hangar, a stream line shell enclosing said mast, a travelling crab adapted to move along said mooring mast in a vertical direction, and a screw breech lock for mooring the nose of the dirigible within the frame of said crab, said lock comprising a bolt mounted on the nose of the dirigible and providing with interrupted screw thread and a nut mounted in a Cardan joint on said crab likewise with interrupted screw thread, the threaded sections of said nut correspoiuling with the bare sections of said bolt, a worm gear for rotating said nut, a guide funnel with two diametri vally opposite guide slots located infront of said nut, and guide blades mounted on the nose of the dirigibleadaptcd to engage said slots, ball bearings between the nut of said breech lock and said guide funnel and between said nut and the inner Cardan -ring.

10. In a mooring device for dirigibles, in combination a rotatable hangar, a mooring mast of lattice construction mounted above the aperture of said hangar, a stream line shell enclosing said mast, a travelling crab adapted to move along said mooring mast in a vertical direction, and a screw breech lock for mooring the nose of the dirigible within the frame of'said crab, said lock comprising a bolt mounted on the nose of the dirigible and provided with interrupted screw thread anda nut mounted in a Cardan joint on said crab likewise with interrupted screw thread, the threaded sections of said nut corresponding with the bare sections of said 

